Never Let Me Go
by Danni1989
Summary: Sequel to "Safe in my Arms" Set after the tragic car accident and Aurora is now a vampire. How does she cope with her new life? Can Damon and Elena's relationship survive such a tragedy when they have differing opinions on how to take care of the situation. Will Aiden change his mind about becoming a vampire when it's time?
1. Chapter 1

_Here we go, the very first chapter of the third and final installment of the "All I Need" series. Aurora is going to be angsty for a few chapters, along with the rest of the family so bare with me. I'm sorry this is late, I promised it around a week ago, but I was really struggling with it. _

_This is unbetaed, so all mistakes are my own._

_I own nothing, everything pertaining to the vampire diaries is owned by the CW_

* * *

"She completed the transition." Damon told Elena when he went into the bedroom a few hours later. Elena nodded but didn't look up from the photo album in her lap.

"We're such bad people. We forced something onto our daughter that she never wanted. She's going to hate us forever." Elena sniffled.

"She'll get over it. She hasn't said a single word to me yet. She's in shock I think. When I left she was asleep but just in case I'm not going to sleep tonight. She had a lot of blood so that shouldn't be a problem." He told her.

"Shouldn't one of us be in there with her?" Elena asked.

"She'll be fine. I'll hear her if she wakes up. She's safe, but I do think for the next few days for sure we should send Aiden over to your parents house." Damon suggested.

"Maybe I'll take him over now. I don't want to have to worry about him. We need to talk to Bonnie about spelling a ring for

Aurora." Elena listed.

"Just lie down and relax. Everything can we taken care of tomorrow." Damon insisted trying to pull her back on the bed.

"No, I won't be able to relax until I know for sure that Aiden is safe." Elena argued as she freed herself from his grasp and walked out the door. She walked down to Aiden's room and knocked on the door. She could see the light on underneath the door and knew he was awake.

"Come in." He called. She could tell by the hoarseness of his voice that he'd been crying.

"Are you okay?" She asked knowing the question was stupid. None of them were okay.

"I've been better? How is Aurora?" He asked his eyes wide and watery. He suddenly reminded her of when he was a child and he would run to her teary eyed whenever he had a problem. He was a teenager now and she knew he only cried when something horrible happened. Like tonight.

"She's a vampire now. She completed the transition. Aiden I need you to do something for me." Elena asked him.

"What?" He asked.

"I need you to listen to me. This house isn't safe for you right now. You may be filled with vervain but that won't stop her

from biting you. I don't want to see you get bitten by Aurora, not only will it hurt you but it will seriously harm Aurora too. Not just because of the vervain but the guilt of almost killing someone you love with live with her forever." Elena explained.

"So what do you want me to do?" He asked.

"I need to take you to your grandparents house. I want to take you there right now, it's the only way I can focus on getting Aurora back to normal. I love you Aiden and it would kill us all if you got hurt because of Aurora." Elena pleaded with him.

"For how long?" Aiden asked.

"Hopefully not too long. You'll for sure be back home before school starts in three weeks." Elena promised him.

"Okay, it all depends on how Aurora takes to being a vampire right?" He questioned.

"Yes." Elena agreed.

"She has you and dad to help her so she shouldn't be too bad. So you think we should leave right now?" He questioned.

"Yes I do. It's the only way to ensure that you're completely safe." Elena told him. Aiden nodded and quickly packed a

duffel bag before gesturing for his mom to walk out of the room. He followed behind her and Elena grabbed her car keys, escorting him out to the car.

A few minutes later they were parked outside the Gilbert house. All the lights were off and due to the extremely late hour she knew they were all asleep. She would apologize profusely when they opened the door. She didn't want to scare her mom and dad by breaking in so she started ringing the doorbell. She rang it frantically until she saw the lights come on and her dad curse the annoying drunks in the town for interrupting his sleep again. If it wasn't such a dire situation she would have laughed at her dads reaction to the ringing bell. She saw the entrance way light come on and the door open.

"Elena, what are you doing here so late? Is everything okay?" He asked panicked seeing only his daughter and grandson at the door. They hadn't yet heard about the accident since Aiden hadn't had time to call them before rushing to the scene.

"I need you to take Aiden for a few days dad." Elena whispered as tears pooled in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Is everything alright with you and Damon? Come in. Come sit down." He asked stepping aside to let them through. Elena went into the living room as Miranda came down the stairs. She walked into the living room and sat down beside her husband while rubbing all evidence of sleep from her eyes. She knew something bad must have happened to have brought Elena to their door at 2 am.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Miranda asked reaching across the table to take her hand.

"Like I told dad, I need Aiden to stay with you guys for a few days. It's not safe for him at home." Elena told them.

"What happened sweetie?" Grayson asked needing more information.

"There was an accident tonight on Wickery Bridge. Aurora was involved. Her car went over the edge, I don't really know any details. Damon did the only thing he could to keep her with us and now she's a vampire. I can't have Aiden there until Aurora gets control of her blood-lust. I'm so sorry it's so late and I woke you up. But you guys are the only ones I could think of to take him in right now. All of our vampire friends are going to be helping us make this easier." Elena sniffled.

"Of course he can stay here. If there is anything we can do, let us know. It doesn't matter the time sweetheart. You can call us at anytime." Grayson assured his daughter

"But this is okay?" She asked gesturing to Aiden.

"Of course it is. How long do you think it'll take?" He asked.

"I don't know. It'll be before school starts for sure." Elena promised.

"Take your time. Make sure Aurora is fully adjusted. There's no rush." Miranda assured her daughter.

"I should get home." Elena decided after a moment of sitting silently.

"Alright, keep us posed on Aurora. This was a terrible night, I'm just so relieved that shes going to be fine." Miranda told her daughter as she walked her to the door. Elena hugged Aiden once more before walking out the front door. She watched as all the lights got turned off again.

"Aiden's at your parents house?" Damon questioned when she walked into the bedroom a few minutes later. Elena nodded as she walked over to the bed and laid down on her side.

"I'm just going to make sure Aurora has a glass of blood waiting for her when she wakes up. She knows all about the sun so she won't go anywhere. We can get some sleep." Damon told her as he stood a glass of blood to the room for her. When it was on the bedside table he snuck out and shut the door behind him, returning to his room. He stripped out of his clothes and slipped on a pair of pyjama bottoms before sliding into bed beside Elena.

"I still think she's going to hate us." Elena murmured with her eyes closed.

"We'll take it as it happens Elena. Right now let's just take one step at a time. Get some sleep." He insisted with his eyes closed.

When Aurora woke up her room was still dark. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it was 8am. The curtains on her windows were closed but she didn't have the energy to get up and open them. She stretched as she recalled the horrible dream she had last night. She dreamt that she was in a car accident and she had died causing her day to turn her into a vampire. The odd thing was that usually in dreams you could remember specifics, but there was an entire part that was missing. She was missing details, she didn't know how she drove off the bridge and she didn't know what happened when she drove off the bridge. It was a weird dream but she was so happy to be awake. She looked onto her bedside table and saw the mug sitting there. It was a pure white to-go coffee cup that she had never seen before, and opted not to touch it. She shook her head and walked out of her room and downstairs where she poured herself a bowl of cocoa pebbles. As she ate the pebbles she noted that they weren't as satisfying as they were yesterday and she felt different too. She refused to think that last night hadn't been a dream, that it was her life now.

Aurora heard the tell-tale sound of the newspaper hitting the front door and looking for some normalcy among all that confusion muddling her brain that morning she walked to the front door and opened it. A searing burning pain automatically started on every exposed piece of skin on her body as she picked up the paper. She screamed and was seemingly paralysed as sizzled in the sun. Damon rushed down the stairs and pulled her inside with a furious expression on his face. Her skin immediately started healing itself as she cried.

"What's happening to me?" She cried.

"You're a god damn vampire Aurora, unless you have a ring you can't go outside." He shouted at her.

"No. No. No. No!" She screamed as she sank to the floor. All her wounds were healed and already forgotten as Elena rushed down the stairs. "I can't be a vampire. I can't. I never wanted this. I don't want this." She cried as she rocked back and forth on the floor. Elena immediately dropped to the floor and cradled her daughter trying to get her to calm down.

"You don't really have a choice now Aurora. You have to grow up and endure it. I didn't want this life either but here I am." Damon told her, knowing he had to be firm in order to get anything through to her in this state.

"I hate you both. You made me like this. You could have just let me die like normal parents would have had to." Aurora snarled, tearing herself out of her moms arms and rushing up the stairs.

"Well this is going to be fun. A hormonal, teenage vampire... oh joy." Damon sighed until he saw Elena all distraught on the floor. She looked utterly broken.

"Hey, it'll be alright. She'll get past this, and she only thinks she means what she said. She loves you." He promised her sinking to the floor with her.

"This was never supposed to happen." Elena cried.

"I know. I know it's gotta be hard for you. It is for me too, believe that." He told her.

"How are you acting so strong through all of this?" She asked

"I'm experienced in things not going my way. I'm able to channel my unhappiness into more constructive directions. She'll get past this because she's strong like her mom. I'm going to go check on her. She's confused right now and I don't want her to do something she'll regret." He said.

"Do you want me to go?" Elena asked shakily. She wanted to be strong like him, but she was having a hard time considering her daughter essentially died last night.

"No, you sit down. You can't connect with her on this level. You chose to be a vampire, we didn't get a choice." Damon told her honestly.

"You have a point. I'll stay here. Is there anything I can do?" She asked hopefully.

"Be strong. If you really want to do something check on Aiden. I'm sure he's having a hard time with this too. You'll be better at that than I will." Damon told her.

"Do you want me to go over there, or should I just call him?" Elena asked letting Damon take the reins on this whole thing.

"Either or. But it might be a better idea to stay here in case I get through to Aurora and she decides to apologize." Damon told her.

"Can't she hear our entire conversation?" Elena asked.

"Her emotions are too over the place right now to even pay attention to it. It's all white noise to her right now. It'll clear up." He explained.

"Alright. I'll call Aiden." Elena said picking up the phone and dialling her parents number.

Damon walked into Aurora's room and found her sitting in the center of her bed with her head in her hands.

"Go away." She hissed.

"You have to listen to me first. Let's pretend for a second... you pretend that you're a mother and your child got into an accident. You had a way to save her life even though it went against everything she ever wanted in her life. Tell me that you wouldn't make any choice necessary to make sure she has some sort of life. No matter how wrong the decision was." Damon ordered.

"I don't know. But you guys knew I never wanted this life! How can I get past this now? I hate this life. All I want is blood! All I think about is blood! I actually thought about going to track down Aiden because I know he has blood. This is so wrong. It doesn't help that I hate everything about this new life. I have fangs for crying out loud. My life can never be the same again. I'm never going to be able to see Lilah or Landon again because of the risk of tearing out their throats." Aurora screamed.

"You and I are exactly the same in this respect Aurora. You'll get through it just like I did. Although it won't take you over a century to be yourself." Damon promised her.

"How do you figure you're just like me. I got forced into this life by someone who loves me." She spat.

"So did I. I never told you this story because I didn't want to turn you against Stefan. And I still don't. Keep in mind that Stefan and I have a very good relationship and he is entirely forgiven for what he did. But he forced me to turn because he was afraid of losing me. Very much like us forcing you to turn because we didn't want to lose you. We're selfish creatures but I refuse to bury one of my children." Damon told her forcefully.

"You got forced to turn by Uncle Stefan?" She asked.

"Yes, and I turned out alright. You'll be fine Aurora. Your mom and I will teach you how to get through this. Your mom is an exceptional vampire." Damon told her.

"All I feel right now is anger and I don't know how to deal with it. It's not all directed at you and mom either. A lot of it is directed at the asshole who ran me off the bridge." Aurora stated.

"No one was able to tell us what happened to cause you to run off the bridge. So what happened?" Damon asked desperately.

"I was driving home about 10 minutes after I texted you guys because that's how long it took me to get to my car. I was driving home and I was playing with the radio when this either black or some other dark colour pick up truck came swerving towards me. It never occurred to me to stop and wait for him to pass, I just assumed he would get control of the vehicle before he approached me. When I got onto the bridge I realized he wasn't going to stop. I tried to dodge him but he hit me and I went over. That's all I remember." She told him.

"Would you know the face if I showed him to you?" He asked.

"How do you know who it is?" Aurora demanded.

"I don't. But I will check every God-damned house in this town and in all surrounding towns to find the asshole who did this to you. I will make him suffer like you're going to be suffering." Damon promised.

"You would do that for me?" She asked almost smiling for the first time.

"I would. He deserves to die for this." Damon vowed, almost not recognizing himself when he vowed to kill the driver of the truck.

"Will I be able to see Lilah again?" Aurora asked after a few moments.

"Once you're in control of yourself." Damon promised her.

"Will I be able to go back to school in September?" She asked again hopefully.

"Yes, you can probably go back on the first day. Just behave and do what I tell you. Then you'll be fine." Damon promised her.

"So I can have a normal life?" She asked.

"Absolutely. Just keep well-fed. Speaking of which have you eaten at all today?" He asked.

"I had a bowl of cereal." She told him.

"Aurora I met blood." He told her

"No." She admitted. He took the mug off of her end table and handed it to her.

"Drink up. I'll be downstairs if you want to come down and maybe apologize to your mom for saying you hate her. She's having a really hard time with this too." Damon suggested.

"So am I." She reminded him.

"I know. Just don't lose yourself during all of this." He told her as he left the room.

Aiden fumbled around the Grill several hours later, worried about his sister. His mom had insisted that he live a normal life regardless how abnormal the rest of his life was at the moment. She promised him that everything was okay, and that he shouldn't stop living.

"Are you okay Aiden? I haven't seen you this unorganized or distracted since you started working here." Matt asked.

"Did you hear about what happened to my sister?" He asked.

"No what happened?" Matt asked.

"Did you hear about the accident on Wickery Bridge last night? It's been in papers and on the news all day." Aiden asked.

"Yeah what about it?" He asked.

"Aurora was the unnamed victim. She's a vampire now." Aiden told him.

"Oh my God, how's she taking it? How are your parents taking it?" He asked.

"I know my parents are pretending to be strong and I really have no idea about Aurora. I only imagine that she's not taking it well." Aiden stated.

"I'm sorry buddy. Do you want to take the day off?" He asked.

"No, mom said I should live my life. Part of my life is working my job. I just wish I could go home." He admitted.

"You're not allowed to be at home?" Matt asked,.

"No they don't want Aurora to hurt me. I guess I understand where they're coming from. It just sucks." Aiden said.

"You're staying with your grandparents?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's not too bad. I mean I really like my grandma and grandpa, its just they lost their understanding of teenagers

when theirs grew up." Aiden explained.

"Ah I see. I'm sure it'll be fine Aiden. You'll get past it." Matt assured him.

"I know, it's just Aurora I worry about. She never wanted this." Aiden said shaking his head sadly.

"Shes strong. She's a lot like your mom in that way." Matt assured him patting him on the shoulder before walking away.

A little while later Aurora was lying in bed trying her best to get through her new diet consisting of blood. She hated everything about this new life. She hated the fact that she couldn't open up her curtains to let the sun shine in until she got a daylight ring. She hated that she had to exist on blood for the rest of her life. She hated that she would never have children. She hated that she was going to be 16 and 3/4 for the rest of her life. The fact that she would never move forward hurt most of all. Her emotions were all over the place and until she figured out how she felt, she figured it'd be best to remain anti-social. Looking at the clock on her bedside table she sighed. Day one as a vampire was almost complete.


	2. Chapter 2

Here we go, I'm so sorry for the wait and I hope you like this. Between the flood and being unsure which direction I wanted to take this is, it's been a rough few days for writing. I hope you like this, and as always let me know what you think.

This is unbetaed, so all mistakes are my own.

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, Aurora had a slightly better grasp on her future. She knew that if she wanted to ever see Lilah or Landon, or even Aiden again she had to get a grasp on the blood-lust that just seemed to be all she could think of. The problem was that the rational side of her was a lot smaller than the vampire. All the vampire wanted was to be angry and to kill. To cause pain to those who hurt her in her life. She sighed and tried to close her eyes again, liking the dream world so much better than the real one. In her dreamland, she was still human, dating Landon and had everyone she loved in her life. But no, in reality she was essentially dead and there was a chance she would never see the people she loved again. She sat up in bed when she heard a knock on her door.

"It's just me sweetheart." Elena murmured opening up the door with a tray in her hands.

"Hi, mom." Aurora greeted her, trying to put at least a small fake smile on her face. Her dads lecture really helped put into perspective the choice they had to make. She shouldn't blame her parents for that, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

"I brought you breakfast. Cocoa peddles and some blood." Elena told her as she put the tray across her lap.

"Thanks mom, but what is the point of having human food when it doesn't have any nutritional value?" Aurora asked.

"Even if it has no nutritional value, it was still a valued part of your childhood. You loved them, you never know something as simple as cocoa pebbles just might bring you back to us." Elena told her.

"Okay, that makes sense. So you think for the most part I should keep living my life the way I was before this all happened?" Aurora asked

"Yes. When I turned having your dad, you and Aiden around is what made me myself. I held so much love for you and your brother that I just couldn't be the vampire. The desire to be the mother was so much more potent. I love being your mother and that will never change.

"Okay, so I just have to find something that I love more than anything right?" Aurora asked.

"Find something that you're not willing to lose. Whether it be Lilah or Landon or even cheerleading. It doesn't matter what it is, but you have to get control of yourself if you ever want to be able to see Lilah again" Elena told her.

"Okay, I'm really trying. It's just all so new." Aurora told her.

"I know it is. But your dad is going to train you. He trained me and I think I turned out pretty well." Elena told her.

"Where is daddy?" Aurora asked noticing for the first time his absence.

"He's at a council meeting. I told him I could handle you, so he went." Elena told her.

"Daddy is going to kill the man in the truck who caused this to happen to me." Aurora confessed.

"I really hope he doesn't. Murder isn't who he is anymore." Elena sighed, having the feeling this was going to come up.

"Well the driver murdered me mom, so what's the difference? A life for a life." Aurora replied disdainfully.

"You're still alive, Aurora. If your dad kills him he won't be." Elena replied.

"I'm alive in a way that I never wanted to be. You don't understand because you wanted this endless life. I hate being a vampire. I hate drinking blood. I hate my fangs. I hate that I can't see my friends. I hate that I lied to Lilah, I was supposed to call her after the party but I never did. I hate that she's probably worried about me. I hate this entire life!" Aurora ranted. While she was ranting her demon came out and her fangs dropped, the veins closing around her eyes.

"Aurora you have to calm down, if you get like this every time you get angry you're never going to be allowed out." Elena warned her.

"I can't go out anyway, the sun burns me." Aurora pouted.

"Bonnie is spelling you a ring, but you don't get it until you're under control, and in order to get this whole thing under control you have to endure it. You have to actually try to get past this." Elena told her.

"I'm trying mom. It's just that it's all too new. I have all of these emotions inside me that I can't get past. I don't understand how so many things can be flying through my head at the same times. I feel so many things and they all feel so powerful. It's just hard to know that the anger is most dominant at the moment and I don't want it to be." Aurora tried to explain.

"That's so normal in a new vampire. When I was turned I didn't have that. I felt almost the same because I chose this life. It was all just so much more powerful. As a vampire, everything you feel is so much more intense than it was before. It'll take some time before you're the girl I know you are." Elena told her, leaning forward and kissing the top of her head.

"Thanks for breakfast mom." Aurora sighed smiling again.

"You're welcome. I'll be downstairs if you want to talk. Your dad is going to start your training tonight." Elena told her.

"Is it weird that I'm kind of excited for that? I mean, if I'm stuck like this I better make the most of it." Aurora asked.

"It's not weird. There are a lot of cool tricks at your disposal now." Elena told her.

"Alright. I'm just going to eat my breakfast, then I'll come down." Aurora told her as Elena left the room, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

"Liz, wait for a second." Damon called after the sheriff.

"How's Aurora Damon?" Liz asked concerned for her friends daughter.

"She's strong like her mom. She'll get through this." He told her.

"That's good. I'm not worried about her, she has you and Elena helping her through it. She'll be a fully functional vampire in no time, besides she has everyone else behind her too. So what do you need?" She asked.

"I just wanted to warn you that I am going to brutally murder the guy who drove my daughter off the bridge. Just thought that you should know." He told her.

"Damon are you sure that's something you should do?" She asked concerned.

"Aurora asked me to do it, so that's what I'm going to do. He killed my daughter so he deserves to die. A life for a life. You can either help me or just watch me do it." He told her firmly.

"I really wish you wouldn't do it. What would Elena think? She is famously anti-confrontation." Liz asked.

"Elena will frown upon it but I'll deal with the consequences from that when they happen." He stated.

"You should be working on making your marriage flourish, not adding more unneeded stress on it." Liz suggested.

"This is my daughters well-being we're talking about. If it's going to cause a fight between Elena and I, so be it. We always get through our fights. Besides it will be a while yet, I need to find the guy first." Damon said.

"I would say good luck, but I don't mean it." Liz told him disapprovingly.

"I know, but at least you're not trying to stop me." Damon said.

"I would probably have done the same thing for Caroline if I had the chance." Liz admitted.

"Exactly, that's what parents do. We protect our children. But I better get home, I have a baby vamp in need of training." Damon said as he walked out of the building and to his car.

When Damon walked in the room a few minutes later, Elena and Aurora were sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn between them watching "The Notebook."

"Some things never change." Damon noted when he stopped in the entrance to the room.

"Mom said I should keep doing stuff that made me happy when I was human. I love this movie and it still makes me feel the same now as it did a few days ago." Aurora told him.

"Good. That was very good advice from your mom." Damon said leaning down to kiss Elena. She kissed him back for a moment before focusing her attention back on the TV.

"Come find me when the movie is over. I'm going to show you how to use your super speed." Damon told her.

"Okay, but don't I need to be outside to do that?" Aurora asked.

"Nope, I'm going to show you inside, that way I know you can't get away from me." Damon told her.

"Okay, when do I get to go outside?" Aurora asked.

"When you no longer vamp out at any emotion changes. You need to get control of yourself." Damon told her as the phone started ringing.

"Hello" He greeted.

"Hi, Mr. Salvatore, is Aurora there?" Lilah asked.

"Uh Lilah now is not a good time." Damon whispered and Aurora's head snapped up staring at her dad.

"At least tell me everything is okay. I panicked when I heard about the car accident on the bridge, especially when Aurora didn't call me that night. Please tell me she's okay." Lilah pleaded.

"She'll be fine, in time. You have to give her some time, she had to change to survive the accident." Damon told her.

"Oh my God, she's a vampire now isn't she?" Lilah asked.

"Yes, that's why you can't see her. When I'm sure she's strong enough then you and her and talk. I think you'll be good for

her." Damon told her.

"Alright, just tell her I love her and I miss her. I'll be here for her through all of this." Lilah said, her voice filled with the hoarseness associated with crying.

"I will. Call back in a few days and maybe you can talk to her. I just want her to be a little stronger before she talks to you." Damon said.

"Okay, I love her. She is my best friend, I will do whatever it takes to make sure she's alright." Lilah said passionately.

"I know. I'll keep you posted on her." Damon said before hanging up the phone.

"Lilah?" Aurora asked her eyes wide and filled with tears.

"She's worried about you. You just have to get control and then you can see her again." Damon told her.

"I will. I need my best friend now more than ever." Aurora said.

"I know." Damon said.

When the movie was over Aurora got up and went over to her dad, while Elena grabbed her purse telling them she was going to see Aiden for a while. She gave Damon a quick kiss, choosing to ignore the fact that he wanted to use Aurora as justification to murder someone.

"Alright are you ready?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, what do I do?" She asked.

"Just run. Push yourself and vamp speed should kick in. It's a nifty little trick." He told her.

"Where should I run to?" She asked.

"Run to your room. There is no priceless antiques on that route." He told her. She nodded and she flashed away. Damon nodded his head impressed, of course his daughter was a natural. "Okay, come back down now." Damon called upstairs quietly, hoping she would be able to catch it. Obviously she did as she appeared in front of him with a wide smile on her face.

"That was exhilarating." She breathed.

"You heard me from upstairs too and I wasn't talking any louder than I am right now." He told her.

"Awesome. At least the tricks are making this a bit less awful." She sighed.

"Listen to me, it doesn't matter how you got here. This is what you are and you're going to have to get used to it." Damon told her firmly. She wasn't progressing when she was pouting.

"Maybe I'll feel better after the guy who killed me is dead. I hate him so much. Hate is the dominant emotion I have right now. I'm positive I wouldn't hate this so bad if I didn't feel so much hatred for him." Aurora murmured, her eyes flashing when she mentioned the driver of the truck.

"I told you I'd take care of him. Do you remember anything about him other than the fact that he drove a dark blue or black truck?" Damon asked. Aurora closed her eyes and tried to remember back. Her memories were so much clearer than they were before it was like whatever her subconscious blocked from her memory was coming back.

"I only got a quick glimpse of him but he was definitely blonde. Very young, not much older than I am." Aurora said.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"The truck was a Dodge. It was one of those bigger ones. I'm leaning towards black." She answered.

"Any other distinguishing features?" Damon asked.

"He had an eyebrow ring and a chin piercing." Aurora answered confidently. Her memory picking up features that she hadn't noticed when he drove her off the bridge.

"Perfect. Will you be okay here for a while, I need to go to city hall and get the town records. Then get all the insured

black trucks in town." Damon told her.

"I'll be fine daddy." Aurora said sitting down in front of the TV and putting it on some teen drama show that he would never understand.

"Okay, I'll be right back." He said walking out of the house.

* * *

He went to city hall first and convinced the girl manning the reception desk to get him the files. Compulsion couldn't work because everyone working for the town had vervain in their systems. All it took for him to get his hands on the files was a bit of good old-fashioned flirting.

"I'll see you soon Mr. Salvatore." The girl waved as he walked away.

"You too, Melanie." He called as he walked out with the files in hand. He went to the insurance company and got all the records for black Dodge trucks in the area before heading home. He was impressed at how fast he was able to get everything he wanted. When he walked into the house he went into the living room and saw Aurora fawning over some couple named Pacey and Joey. Damon shook his head and took a seat in the big easy chair with a table beside it. He quickly got up again and poured himself a tumbler full of bourbon and took it back to his chair.

"Do you think you'll find him?" Aurora asked.

"I do. He can't hide from Damon Salvatore. It doesn't matter where he is." Damon told her as he flipped open the file and started looking at the insurance information looking for a young-ish guy. The insurances didn't have pictures so he was looking for ages. He would cross- reference the possibilities with the city files.

"Does 25 seem too old?" Damon asked a little while later.

"Yes, maybe 22 at the oldest." Aurora told him.

"Okay." He said continuing to flip through until he heard the front door open and close. Elena walked in and sat down next to Aurora.

"How do you like vamp speed?" She asked smiling at her daughter.

"It's so cool. I can see myself never being late for class or anything ever again." Aurora laughed.

"You seem to be in a marginally better mood." Elena noted.

"There are some parts of this life that I don't think I'm going to hate. I'm just trying to get past my hatred for the man who did this to me." She said.

"That's a good idea. It doesn't do you any good to hate him. What's done is done." Elena told her approvingly. Aurora didn't respond, especially since she was having her dad kill him.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked Damon who was still poring through the files looking for possibilities.

"I am tracking down the asshole who did this to my daughter." Damon said without looking up from his files. Dividing them into two separate piles.

"I really wish you wouldn't. Just let it go." Elena asked.

"Maybe you can let it go but I can't. It's not in my nature. No matter what you say I am going to find this guy and I'm going to slowly and painfully kill him." Damon told her shortly as he continued flipping through them. Once he was done the insurances, he moved on to the town citizen files and started looking at all the possibilities. In the end he came up with two possibilities and handed the files to Aurora.

"Do either of these match your killer?" He asked. Aurora pored over the pictures before settling on the 19 year old Shane Thomas.

"That's him." She said pointing to the guy. He had the two piercings that she remembered. He didn't look like a criminal, so she questioned her decision to have him killed momentarily.

"Okay. Give me a couple days and then he will be out of your life permanently. He'll never hurt you again." Damon promised a dangerous lilt to his voice.

"Okay, thank you." Aurora said.

"I really don't like this." Elena added on staring between her husband and daughter.

"Mom, if he's gone I can finally become myself again." Aurora tried to convince her.

"You could be yourself even if he's still here. You just have to forgive and forget. It was probably an accident, don't turn dark." Elena begged. She could almost feel herself losing the sweet part of her daughter.

"Elena this may be the only way she can heal. It's the right thing to do and you know it." Damon stated trying to avoid starting a fight with Elena.

"It'll all be okay mom." Aurora promised, although not even she was sure if it would be.


	3. Chapter 3

Here I am posting this during a particularly awful bout of bad sushi inspired food poisoning. I really hope you all like it.

Thank you to my beta for taking time out of her busy schedule to beta this for me.

* * *

"Where are you off to this morning?" Elena asked the following morning when she walked downstairs to find her husband pulling his leather jacket on and heading to the door.

"I'm doing some recon. I'm not discussing it with you because you don't approve. I'd much rather not fight this early in the morning." He stated as he pulled open the door and stepped through.

"I don't approve because it's wrong Damon. Surely you know that." Elena called after him.

"Protecting my daughter is wrong?" Damon asked incredulously.

"What's done is done. Even if you do murder him in cold blood it's not going to bring our daughters humanity back." Elena reminded him.

"But if it makes her feel better then it's all worth it. Maybe disposing of him will bring her humanity back. She may not be human but she can at least act like it." Damon told her sternly.

"Whatever." Elena stated as she spun around and walked into the chef-inspired kitchen needing a glass of the rich, red liquid that would now be a very real part of her daughters life.

A few minutes later Aurora came downstairs, still looking unlike herself. There were dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn't slept a wink.

"How are you feeling?" Elena asked seeing her daughter walk into the room.

"Like hell, but you don't really care do you? You disapprove of the one thing that is going to make me better." Aurora hissed, glaring at her mom.

"Aurora I care about you so much. I love you. I wouldn't have spent 18 hours in labour with you if I didn't care about you. You're my little girl and it kills me to see you in pain like this." Elena told her, her eyes wide. It seemed like both her husband and daughter were going against everything she believed in, and it honestly hurt.

"Well you don't show it. Isn't it the fair thing to do, to take one life because he took another? Wouldn't that be justice in it's most basic form?" Aurora asked.

"Not like this. You don't see it Aurora. If your dad kills him for you, it's going to change you. This will get better, once all the emotions stop swirling around you, it'll be better. You'll have a better grasp on things and you'll regret this so much that you could flip the switch. Aurora don't go down that road." Elena begged.

"It's not really your choice mom. I want him dead and if I knew how I would do it myself. But that's not really an option because I'm stuck in this damn house with only you as company." Aurora hissed.

"Stop, you're being cruel. I'm doing everything I can to make this better. But you have to help me." Elena insisted. **"**

"Why would I want to help you? You're not the one who is trying to fix me. Dad is trying to fix me. Dad wants to bring me back and the only way that's going to happen is if I stop dreaming about the accident. Which coincidentally the only way for me to stop thinking about the accident constantly is if the cause of the accident is dead. You would understand that if you truly loved me." Aurora explained, her voice colder than Elena had ever heard it.

"You're not thinking straight Aurora and I understand that. But you have to stop talking like that." Elena insisted as the phone started ringing. "I do love you. You can't try to say that I don't."

"Maybe you should get that, it's probably my asshole brother pretending to care about what happened to me." Aurora hissed as she got up and stalked to the stairs. Elena sighed audibly and answered the phone.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Hi mom. I was actually just checking in to see how Aurora is." Aiden asked.

"She's not good. All she wants is revenge and your dad is feeding that desire. Aurora is cruel and I don't want you anywhere near this house until she's better. It might take longer than I thought. She's worse than I ever expected her to be." Elena sighed.

"Are you okay mom?" Aiden asked.

"I'll be fine I should be asking you that question. I'm your mother I should be protecting you. Like I was supposed to protect Aurora." Elena sighed, brushing away the tears that had appeared in the corner of her eyes.

"I'm fine mom. I'm more worried about you." Aiden told her, his voice calming her down even through the phone line.

"I'll be fine. I want to see you today. Are you working?" Elena asked.

"Yeah, 12 to 9." Aiden answered.

"When your dad gets home I'll come over there." Elena told him.

"Where is dad?" Aiden asked.

"Doing "recon," he's planning on killing the guy who drove Aurora off the bridge. Aurora thinks your dad is the only one that loves her because he's willing to do this for her." Elena sighed.

"You and dad are fighting again aren't you?" Aiden asked.

"It's not really fighting yet. It's your dad being stubborn and wrong and me radiating disapproval." Elena told him.

"But it will turn into a fight." Aiden stated completely sure.

"I hope not." Elena sighed.

"Okay, but grandma and grandpa just called me for breakfast. I'll see you later mom." Aiden said.

"Alright, tell your grandparents that I'll send some money over for them for taking care of you. You're a 17 year old boy, you eat like a pig." Elena teased her son.

"I don't eat that much, but yeah I'll tell them." Aiden told her, bringing a smile to Elena's face.

"I love you Aiden." Elena told him.

"I love you too mom. I'll see you at the Grille." Aiden said before disconnecting the call.

Damon sat parked across from the house with the address he was looking for. He saw a middle-aged woman step outside to pick up a newspaper before walking back inside. She looked tired, she had the look that a single mom had when she was overrun with stress and too many things to do. Any ounce of sympathy he had for the family faded when a dented pick up truck pulled into the driveway. The boy who was driving the truck was definitely the guy he was looking for and hatred filled Damon up. He watched the tired looking boy walk up the front steps and step into the house.

Damon watched as three small children ran from the house to play on the swing set out front. Those kids were innocents, he had to make sure none of them saw it when he killed their brother. He didn't normally relish in murdering another human being anymore, but this time he had no choice. He had to fix his daughter and this seemed like the only way to do it. The only problem was Elena's disapproval. She didn't understand why he had to do this and because of that she hated the idea. She thought that the guilt that the boy had to be feeling was enough. He would have to try to get her back onto his side. He was feeling an emotional distance between him and his wife that had never existed before; even when their fighting was at it's worst. Deciding he'd seen enough for now, he started up the car and flipped it around heading back to the house.

When Damon walked in the front door Elena was on her way downstairs dressed in a pale yellow sundress and tan wedges. She looked amazing.

"Where are you going?" Damon asked.

"I am going to see our son. You know the other child that you have seemingly forgotten all about in your quest for revenge." Elena stated grabbing her purse and car keys.

"I haven't forgotten him. What's wrong with you today?" He asked guiding her by the elbow to the kitchen table where he eased her into a chair.

"You know exactly what's wrong with me." Elena told him refusing to look at him.

"You're pissed because I want to get revenge for our daughter?" He asked the incredulous lilt to his voice coming through when he tried to keep it at bay. Attitude was not the best way to get through to his wife at a time like this.

"No, I'm pissed that you want to take that route. You're willing to kill to make this better. You volunteering to kill him has ruined our daughter. She's all yours now because I can't handle another day where she is so verbally cruel to me. It's only been one day but I can't do it again." Elena told him, tears coming to her eyes again.

"What did she say to you?" Damon asked her, seeing for the first time that there were other things going on other than her anger directed at him.

"All sorts of things. I don't want to go back there again. I can't. It feels like she doesn't feel anything at all." Elena whispered.

"Her emotions are still on, that I know. If they weren't she wouldn't care about anything including the impending murder of her killer." Damon told her placing his hand on hers on the table. To his credit she didn't pull away.

"I can't do this for much longer. She needs to come back to us. I need my sweet daughter back." Elena whispered.

"She'll come back soon. After I take care of the boy for her, she'll come back to us." He promised her caressing her hand.

"And we're back to murder. Well if that's your answer to this problem, I have to go. I promised I'd meet Aiden at the Grille. I need to spend some time with the child who doesn't hate me." Elena said pulling her hand back and standing up. She brushed at the tears in her eyes before striding out of the door.

Once Elena was gone, Aurora came downstairs practically skipping.

"What are you so happy about?" Damon asked.

"Mom is gone. I only want people around me who actually care about me. I know you care because you are going to kill the son of a bitch who did this to me." Aurora said gleefully.

"What did you say to your mom?" Damon asked finally. He refused to let her be cruel to Elena. Elena probably loved her more than anyone else on the planet.

"I just said some things that she deserved to hear. If she really loved me she would approve of this. He doesn't deserve to live, but since she doesn't approve that means she doesn't love me. All she cares about is Aiden. I hate Aiden." Aurora hissed.

"Your mom loves you, she just thinks there's a better way to do this. She's hurting because of you Aurora." Damon told her, trying to get through to his daughter.

"I don't care if she's hurting. I'm hurting too. I have to live this life forever now and I hate it. I hate every second of it, and the only way to make me like it is to take the life of the person who essentially did this to me." Aurora stated her eyes blazing with hatred.

"What is your problem with Aiden?" Damon asked, thinking back to his daughters words moments before.

"He's an asshole. He doesn't care about me. He never has. All he cares about is being the god damn center of attention." Aurora hissed.

"Aiden cares about you." Damon told her.

"Well then why isn't he here?" Aurora demanded.

"Because if he were here you wouldn't be able to restrain yourself from biting him. You could kill him before we even got to you." Damon told her.

"Oh well. At least then I'd have fresh blood." Aurora shrugged.

"Don't ever say anything like that again Aurora Charlotte Salvatore. It's words like that, that make me want to lock you downstairs because you can't be trusted. If I ever hear of you speaking like that about your brother, or your mom again I swear to God you will regret it." Damon told her, officially pissed off.

"Ooh I'll regret it. You would harm your only daughter?" Aurora asked with a smirk on her face.

"No but I would lock you downstairs until you regained some sense. I am not adverse to that." Damon warned her.

"But mom with her big heart would let me out. You know it and I know it. All I would have to do is beg and plead and she would come downstairs and free me. She's gullible like that." Aurora snickered.

"I am going to kill this son of a bitch and then so help me God if you don't come back to us. I don't like this Aurora and I won't have her making the lives of the people I love miserable." Damon told her as he walked downstairs to grab a bag of blood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elena took a seat at the bar in the Grille and Matt wandered over.

"How are you doing? Aiden told me what happened." Matt asked filling up a tumbler with bourbon for her. She drank the entire glass down in a single gulp and looked at him with watery eyes.

"I don't know how long I can do this for. All that's in my house right now is thoughts or murder and hatred and I can't do it. I don't think I can stay there." Elena whispered not wanting Aiden to overhear. He was serving a few tables and told her he'd come over and talk to her when he had a spare moment. The Grille was busy but at least she had Matt to talk to.

"If you're looking for a place to stay there are so many people in town who love you." Matt reminded her.

"But I can't leave either. If I give up on her what does that make me?" Elena asked.

"Human. You may not technically be human but you know what I mean. You avoid confrontation for the most part and with Damon threatening to kill the guy for doing this to Aurora and Aurora being a new vampire all cruel and angry; it's hard for you to be there and I understand that. Damon should be taking your feelings into account with this." Matt told her as Aiden started wandering over.

"Hi mom." He greeted her opening his arms for a hug. She hugged him back tightly as she tried to regain her composure.

"I'll take your tables for a few minutes so you can talk to your mom." Matt told him.

"You don't have to do that." Aiden told him.

"It's okay. You should be able to visit with your mom. Things aren't going well at your house." Matt told him, patting him on the back.

"Okay, thanks Matt." Aiden thanked him before taking the seat next to his moms. He turned to look at his mom and placed his hand on top of hers.

"Are you okay mom?" Aiden asked.

"I'm hoping I'll get there. I don't want to weigh you down with all of this. All you need to know is that Aurora is not taking this well." Elena told him.

"Are you and dad doing okay at least?" Aiden asked.

"No, we're on completely different sides of the issue and I hate it. In that house it's basically Aurora and your dad against me." Elena whispered.

"I'm sorry mom. I could come home if you wanted." Aiden offered.

"Aurora is far too unstable for you to be anywhere near her. She's holding a lot of anger and she directing it at everyone." Elena told him.

"Okay, but if you need anything I'm here mom." Aiden told her.

"I know, I love you my boy." She told him.

"I love you too mom." He replied.

"You have no idea how badly I needed to hear those words." Elena cried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So dad are we going to do some more training today?" Aurora asked walking into the parlour where Damon was drinking glass after glass of bourbon.

"Nope, you've been quite the little bitch to everyone today and I don't think I want to be around you." Damon told her pouring himself another stiff drink.

"Oh very mature daddy." Aurora quipped.

"You want to see mature, how about this, I'm ignoring you." He told her as he turned away from her.

"Nice." Aurora hissed as she sank into a chair and fiddled with her fingernails waiting for him to acknowledge her.

"Vampires can be very patient Aurora, you'll be waiting for a while for me to give in." He told her without even looking up from his glass. Aurora glowered and picked up a book from the end table, starting to flip through it hoping her dad would give in and occupy her at some point.

"So are you going to kill him?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, now sit quietly if you're going to be in here. I need peace and quiet." Damon told her.

"At least one of my parents love me." Aurora mused.

"Stop talking Aurora. Everything you say is just pissing me off." Damon told her, glaring at her.

"God take a chill pill." Aurora teased as she flipped a page in her book.

"You know what, since I hate this version of you so very much and I know you can't go anywhere since your daylight ring is staying with Bonnie and Jeremy until you can be trusted. I am going to dispose of the threat right fucking now because I can't take it anymore." Damon said finishing his glass of bourbon. While he was slinging his leather jacket over his shoulder Elena walked in.

"Now where are you going?" She asked.

"I have to take care of this right fucking now. I'll be back in a little while." He said as he walked around her.

"You can't go and kill him." Elena told him.

"I cant? I'm sorry but this time you're not able to talk me out of this. I can't stand this girl sitting over there so I'm going to bring back the old one. I am going to kill the boy who took her away from us." Damon told her.

"I won't be able to get past you murdering someone. In all the times that I've known you, you haven't killed a single human. This boy has a future, and a family. You won't be able to take this back." Elena begged him.

"It doesn't matter. I've killed hundreds before I met you and some more metaphorical blood on my hands isn't going to affect me." He told her as he stepped around her again.

"But it will affect me. I can't be with someone who would do something like this. Please don't go there. I love you." She pleaded.

"I love you too, but right now this is something I have to do. If I lose you, it's a sacrifice I have to make to save my daughter." He told her as he stepped around her and walked to the door, slamming it on his way.

"Ooh burn." Aurora sing-songed when her dad left.

"You won't be saying that when you come back to us and your family is broken up." Elena stated as she walked up the stairs and to the bedroom slamming the door behind her.

Damon drove back to the house and the truck was still in the driveway. Elena's words nagged at him and he was starting to lose his resolve. Before he lost all of it he got out of the car and walked up the walkway. He knocked on the door and the boy answered.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" He asked politely.

"You killed my daughter. You made her drive off of Wickery Bridge." Damon told him coldly. His hand flexing as he mentally prepared himself to yank his heart from his chest. His favourite method of killing.

"I'm so sorry. I feel so terrible. If it was an option I would give my life for her own. I haven't been able to eat or sleep, I spend most of my waking moments at the bridge reliving it." The boy cried.

"What's going on here." His mom asked coming to the boy.

"Remember I told you about the accident on the bridge and what happened. This is the girls father." He told her wiping tears from his eyes.

"I am so sorry, I can only imagine what I would feel like if I lost one of my children. They're all I have. Please don't take one of them away from me." She begged seeing something in his expression that scared her.

"I guess it's no surprise that I came here to kill you..." Damon started as both the boy and his mother started crying harder and she wrapped her arms around him to protect him as best as she could.

"But you see I have a problem. If I do this my wife is going to leave me. My wife hates the idea of what I'm here to do and she told me in no uncertain words that I would lose her and most likely our son if I do this. It's not a risk I'm willing to take because I am here for her. The only reason I existis to be with her. So I'm going to let you live with your guilt for the rest of your life as long as that may be because you're not worth it. You're not worth losing the single most important thing in my life." Damon decided.

"Oh thank you. Thank you so much." The woman cried.

"Don't thank me. The guilt is going to eat at him for the rest of his life because he doesn't get forgiveness. This is a fate worse than death." He told them as he turned and walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Damon got home he could hear drawers opening and slamming shut and the closet doors opening and closing. He could also hear Aurora humming happily to herself in her room. He knew dealing with Elena could possibly take all night so he went to Aurora first. He knocked on the door and when she ushered him inside he followed.

"So is it done? Is he gone?" She asked a wide smile on her face.

"No, I couldn't do it. Your mom is right." He told her.

"Oh my God, you chickened out didn't you? Losing mom was too fearful of a fate so you just gave up?" She asked as quietly as she could.

"I gave up because he deserves to live with what he did for the rest of his life." Damon told her.

"Oh but I don't get my life. He deserves to keep his life after taking mine?" She questioned harshly.

"You'll have to get past this on your own Aurora, without the blood." Damon warned her.

"Maybe I'll go kill him myself." Aurora suggested coldly.

"You could but you don't know where he lives and I already took the files back. You don't know how to use compulsion and I already compelled the worker to never let them out of his sight in case something happened. You would be looking for a needle in a haystack Aurora so you may as well just lie down and go to sleep because there is absolutely nothing else you can do." Damon told her.

"So now you're going to go to mom?" She asked.

"Yep. Her and I need to talk." He told her.

"That'll be tough when she's in the process of moving you out of the house." Aurora snickered.

"I kinda figured that when I heard the dressers slamming shut." Damon stated dryly as he walked out of the room.

He opened the bedroom door and saw a furious Elena stuffing random articles of his clothing into various suitcases.

"Oh you're back. How is the metaphorical blood you're sporting?" She demanded angrily. Her voice was hoarse with the sound of tears.

"I didn't do it." He told her as he started pulling the clothes back from her.

"You didn't do it? Well that doesn't' really change anything does it. You had every intention of doing it. I think you can go live at the Boarding House and you can take your monster of a daughter with you." She told him as she tore the shirt that he had pulled out of the case out of his hand and put it back in the case.

"I'm not leaving Elena and there's nothing you can say that can make me. I am in this for eternity and that's a hell of a long way away." He told her as he started moving faster than she was to unpack his suitcase.

"Will you just please stop that. I need you to leave." She begged.

"No. I didn't kill him. I couldn't do it because you're right. It was wrong. At least we still have Aurora in some capacity and she'll be back to normal soon enough. It'll take some work but she'll come back to us. I know she will because she's strong like her mom." Damon told her. She stopped moving and collapsed onto the bed as the loud sobs tore through her body. The only thing louder than her sobs was the sound of the front door slamming, both vampires knowing that Aurora was gone into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Aurora ran with her shoulder length brown hair blowing in the wind behind her with the speed in which she was running. She passed by houses and businesses as she ran, enjoying the wind in her face. In the back of her mind she could envision the switch her mom and dad had told her about, and knowing she didn't want to feel anything anymore she turned it off. In the blink of an eye all the feelings she still had, the slight feelings of guilt at the way her parents marriage was crumbling, guilt at the way she talked to her mom, guilt at the way she talked about her brother, it all went away. It felt amazing. She ran until she came to the highway so she stopped and looked around her. Did she really want to leave town? The answer was a resounding yes. She didn't want to be around any of these people ever again, these people- her family, were dead to her officially. She didn't care and she didn't feel. No anger, no disappointment, no pain. She saw a red sports car round the bend nearing the "Welcome to Mystic Falls" sign and Aurora decided she wanted it. She prepared to leap in front of the speeding car, knowing being hit by a car would barely register on a vampires pain scale When the car got close enough she leaped out in front of it. The man behind the wheel slammed on his brakes as the car hit her. She dutifully lay across the pavement waiting for the man to come out and check on her.

"Miss? Are you alright?" He asked leaving the car running as he got out and checked on the teenage girl. When he got close she leaped up with her fangs dropped and bit into his neck fiercely. She was not a clean feeder, she tore into his neck, and her clothes were covered in blood as she drank every drop of his essence. The man screamed in pain and fear as he very slowly died.

Once Aurora felt his heart stop, she dropped him to the ground and smirked.

"Yummy." She smirked as she picked him up and deposited him in the trees right behind the sign before sauntering over to his car and getting in behind the wheel. Pleased with herself, she put the car back into gear and sped away from Mystic Falls.

"We have to call the cops." Elena insisted in fear as she paced the living room floor after hearing the door slam.

"We can't call the cops. What good would that do?" Damon replied exasperated.

"They could help us find her." She replied.

"They would all end up dying. She is a new vampire who can't control her urges. Hell for all we know she could have flipped the switch. Either way we can't get anyone else involved. She'll come home on her own. Something will happen and she will flip the switch back on. We have to let her do this, besides if she doesn't want to be found she won't be. She has probably already left town." He told her.

"What if she hasn't? What if she's targeting Aiden?" Elena said fearfully.

"She won't target Aiden. Deep down she loves him." Damon comforted her.

"But if she flipped the switch she wouldn't know that would she? He is at risk too. I have to go. I have to stay with Aiden until this is over with." Elena fretted with her eyes wide in desperate fear.

"Let's just call around first and see if anyone has spotted her. Maybe she went to Stefan and Lexi's, or Caroline and Tyler's. There are several places she could have gone before we start panicking." Damon suggested as he picked up the phone. He quickly dialled Stefan's number and Lexi answered right away.

"Hello?" She greeted.

"Hey it's me. Aurora hasn't stopped by there has she?" Damon asked getting straight to the point.

"No, was she supposed to?" Lexi asked.

"God no! She's not supposed to be out of the house, but she escaped tonight and we have no idea where she is." Damon explained.

"Oh my God. There's a new vampire on the loose in Mystic Falls?" She asked.

"An uncontrollable one who may or may not have turned off her emotions. She could have left town too. I'm trying not to

panic." He said.

"Stefan and I will go out and look. We'll keep our eyes open just in case we spot her." Lexi promised.

"Thank you." Damon said.

"You're welcome. She'll come home. I know it." Lexi assured him.

"I know she will. It's Elena that needs convincing." Damon added before he hung up.

"So they haven't seen her either." Elena clarified.

"No but they're going to keep looking." Damon assured her. Damon picked up the phone again and dialled out Caroline's number and waited while it rang a few times.

"This had better be good, I'm a bit busy having sex Salvatore family." Caroline spoke annoyed by breathless into the phone after four rings.

"I'll make this quick so you can get back to it. Have you seen Aurora?" Damon asked.

"What? Is she missing? Oh God this is bad. Really bad. I'll help you look for her." Caroline started, the annoyed lilt in her voice turning into something completely different.

"She ran away tonight. She could be anywhere, literally. She could be leaving town, she could be in town stalking prey. I have no idea where she is. Just please keep an eye open for her. Elena's going to keep an eye on Aiden to make sure she doesn't go after him." Damon requested.

"Sure no problem. She's my god-daughter, it's in my job description to make sure she comes home safely." Caroline told him, her voice sober now.

"Thank you Caroline. Can you maybe give Bonnie and Jeremy a call while I call Alaric. Spread the word as best as we can." Damon asked.

"Sure, I'll do it right now." Caroline promised. They both hung up and Damon immediately dialled Alaric's number and proceeded to tell him the same thing he did to Lexi and Caroline. Alaric was worried but promised that they would get Aurora back with causing any pain for her. After Damon finished talking with Alaric he tried to call Lilah's house to warn her but there was no answer.

"Elena, I have to run out for a bit. Will you still be here when I get back?" He asked pointedly.

"I'm spending a few days with my mom and dad, I need to make sure Aiden is safe. Besides it's good for us to have some time apart for the next few days. The past few days have been rough." She told him.

"Okay, but I'll see you when you come home again right? You're not kicking me out now?" He clarified.

"No I'm not. When we get her back we need to be a family. We need to show her that all is forgiven and we can get past whatever she did to us." Elena decided.

"Alright because I'm not anywhere ready to lose you. I'll see you in a few days hopefully." Damon told her.

"See you." She said before walking out of the front door with Damon right behind her. They got into separate vehicles and sped away in separate directions.

Driving at way above to speed limit felt amazing. She understood now why her dad liked driving so fast. It was a rush. It was exhilarating. She loved it. She saw blue and red lights flashing behind her and she sighed.

"Dinner time." She cheered as she pulled the car over on the side of the road. The officer knocked on her window and she rolled it down.

"Can I help you officer?" She asked innocently. She saw the man had a wedding ring on and she could see a picture with four faces poking out of his pocket. It seems he took his family with him everywhere, maybe as a token to make sure he got home safe. It wasn't going to work for him tonight. He shone his flashlight into the car as he looked around looking for something suspicious.

"Do you have any idea how fast you were going Miss? I'm going to need to see your license and registration." He told her holding out his hand for the documents.

"You see sir, I don't have those items." She told him fluttering her eyelashes.

"Where did you get this car?" He asked knowing there was something off about the young girl.

"It belonged to the last person I killed and ate." She told him before grabbing his arm and pulling him closer. Her fangs dropped and she bit into his throat draining all his blood like she did to the other man. When the officer dropped dead to the ground, Aurora put the car back into gear and sped away not at all caring about the family she just left without a father and husband.

At midnight, Aurora passed through the "Welcome to Atlanta" sign, and smirked. Oh the possibilities in a city this big. Aurora was going to have some fun here and no one would be able to find her because like her dad said it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. First things first Aurora needed to find something clean to wear, so she drove until she found a high-end boutique with such labels as Gucci and Prada.

"Perfect." Aurora noted when she stopped the car and walked to the glass doors of the store which had been long closed for the night. Not caring about alarms and such she broke through the window and listened to the sirens go off. She used her new favourite took and vamp sped around the store picking up things she liked in her size before leaving the shop. Aurora could hear sirens in the distance so she rushed out of the store and got into her "borrowed" car, speeding away from the scene of the crime.

Damon parked in front of Lilah's families house and walked up the front walk. So far he didn't see any signs of Aurora being there and that was good. He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it.

"Damon, how are you?" Kathy asked him stepping aside to let him in.

"That all depends, have you seen my daughter around?" Damon asked urgently.

"No, is she missing?" Kathy asked.

"Sort of. Is Lilah here?" Damon asked.

"Of course she'll be right down. I know she's been worried about Aurora." Kathy told him as they heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Mr. Salvatore, is Aurora better yet?" Lilah asked when she saw Damon standing there.

"Far from it. I need you to do me a favour, don't go anywhere alone but if you have to take this." He said passing a vervain filled syringe into her hand.

"What is this?" Lilah asked.

"It's filled with vervain, it will neutralize a vampire if one chooses to attack you. It'll give you enough time to get away. Also if Aurora shows up here don't let her leave but also under no circumstances should you invite her in. No matter what she says." Damon told her, looking at all three members of her family.

"Aurora is missing isn't she?" Lilah clarified.

"Yes, but remember with that syringe there is only one shot basically. She'll have no qualms of killing you right now so don't hesitate. It won't kill her but it'll keep you alive. Call me immediately if you see her. This is a life or death situation." Damon warned them all. He knew it was better to scare them than have them not be prepared for what could happen.

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't stab her with this. She's my best friend." Lilah said staring at the syringe.

"It would only hurt her for a little while. Enough time for you to get away. Believe me inserting the syringe into her is far better than letting her kill you. When she comes back to us she won't have the guilt of killing her best friend over her head. Think of that if it comes down to it." Damon told her.

"Okay will you keep us posted on what you find?" She asked.

"Of course. You'll be one of the first to know." He promised them.

"I hope you get your daughter back soon Damon. I could only imagine what I would feel if I lost Lilah." Kathy told Damon.

"It's definitely not a good feeling. I'll keep you guys posted. I have to find my daughter." Damon said as he walked through the front door.

Elena walked up the front walk of her parents house and knocked on the door. It didn't matter that it was her parents house, she still felt like knocking was appropriate. Her dad answered the door and his eyes widened at seeing his daughter with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Aurora escaped earlier tonight, I know it's late but I have to stay here until she's found. I can't let her target Aiden." Elena stated.

"Would she target Aiden?" Grayson asked as walked Elena into the living room where only Aiden was still up watching action movies with Aiden.

"She could. We think she flipped the switch. I'm just here to protect you guys." Elena told them.

"Where's Damon?" Grayson asked.

"He's staying at the house trying to track down Aurora." Elena answered.

"I see. But it's getting late and I have a late shift at the hospital tomorrow. I'll see you guys in the morning." He told them as he yawned and went to walk upstairs.

"Let me drive you to work tomorrow. I'm not taking any chances with those that I love." She told her dad.

"If it will make you feel better I'll let you drive me." He told his daughter with an indulgent smile on his face.

"Thank you daddy." She called after him.

"I should probably go to sleep too." Aiden decided.

"It's probably a good idea. I don't want you tired for work tomorrow. Just so you know I'm driving you to work and I'm staying there until you're off." She told him.

"Ah mom. It's really hard to flirt when your mom is sitting near and can hear everything you say." Aiden whined.

"You can go back to flirting when our lives go back to normal, not go to sleep." She told him.

"Fine." He sighed and got up. He leaned down and kissed his moms cheek before heading upstairs.

Since there was nothing else open and Aurora needed somewhere to crouch when the sun came up she walked into a rowdy looking bar. At the very least there would be lots of prey inside for her to snatch and eat. She was wearing a Versace halter-necked dress, something the old Aurora would never have even considered wearing. She walked up to the bar and ordered a vodka and cranberry which the bartender initially declined her.

"Do you know what I am? I could make your life a living hell if you don't give me my drink." She ordered him with her hand wrapped tight around his throat. She could crush his windpipe just like that if she really wanted to, but she knew she needed him to make her drinks for the rest of the night. She needed him as much as she hated to admit it. She flashed him just a hint of fang and the man scrambled into action. He mixed her drink before any of the other orders and passed it across the bar to her.

"Here you go miss." He said in fear of the seventeen year old girl.

"Thank you." She said taking a sip of her drink. "You may survive the night yet."

The bartender scurried around the bar making drinks for other patrons, but every time Aurora flashed a hint of fang at him he quickly made her another drink. As a vampire she had a considerably higher alcohol tolerance than she had before and she honestly loved it.

"Clearly there are some perks to this life." She mumbled to herself as she threw back her drink.

"Wanna dance sweetheart?" A voice said behind her. She turned around with a sickly sweet look on her face.

"Well hello there." She greeted him.

"You're awfully young to be in a bar." He noted.

"I'm seventeen, how old are you?" She asked.

"Thirty-four. My offer still stands, would you like to dance?" He asked holding his hand out. The man disgusted her so she plastered another smile on her face and looked at him.

"Actually there is something I want from you more." She told him seductively.

"Oh really? What might that be?" He asked getting the gist of what she was saying... or so he thought.

"How bad do you want to find out?" She asked raising her eyebrows. Her fangs were itching to come out of her gums and feed on the delicious blood, but she had to be patient. This was a public place and she had to at least attempt to be careful with her feeding habits. Seduction seemed to be the easiest method to getting her prey away from the group. Aurora knew she was pretty, so seduction wasn't that hard, especially when you got the guys who didn't care how young she was. The sick pigs that she would get a secret thrill out of murdering.

"I want to find out real bad." He told her smirking at her.

"Well then, you pass that test. You want it as bad as I do. How about you meet me in the women's bathroom in like five minutes." She told him.

"Yes! I'll be there Missy." He told her as he walked away with more pep in his step than he had when he approached her.

"Oh you have no idea what's coming your way." Aurora muttered under her breath. She flashed some fang at her bartender and he immediately slid another drink in front of her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He told her as he went on with his life.

When her allotted five minutes was up she walked to the women's bathroom and found her prey already in there and proceeding to remove some of his clothes.

"Good Lord what are you doing?" She demanded when she saw him try to pull a t-shirt over a beer belly.

"I'm undressing. I thought I'd save you the trouble." He muttered in what he obviously hoped was a seductive voice but really wasn't.

"Oh my God, you think I brought you in here for sex?!" She asked pretending to be shocked and surprised.

"Well... yeah." He told her confused now.

"Oh God no. Buddy you are so not my type. I brought you in here before you're about to be my next meal." She told him as her features changes and her fangs dropped. She covered his mouth with her hand to keep his screams muffled as she tore through the skin of his neck, drinking his delicious blood. She drank until she felt his heartbeat stop and his body go limp. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and stood up to appraise the damage of her dress.

"Not bad." She noted as she saw her dress was pretty much completely clear of blood. When she had all of the blood off of her skin she walked out of the bathroom leaving the guys body on the floor. She didn't care if anyone thought she did it, if they figured her out she would just kill them too. It didn't matter to her. When she got back to her seat a brunette with long dark curls was sitting in her spot.

"Excuse me, who the hell do you think you are?" She demanded as she bared her fangs and rushed over to the woman.

"Well well.. Aurora Salvatore. Fancy seeing you here." The woman said as she spun around slowly on the bar stool revealing none other than Katherine Pierce.


	5. Chapter 5

This is an updated version of this chapter. Same one I just posted a couple days ago. Sorry for any confusion.

* * *

Aurora looked at Katherine suspiciously with a raised brow, her voice was cold flat and toneless asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I got word from someone that there was a raging young vampire in here who looked a bit like me. I had to come investigate." Katherine replied disinterestedly in an orotund tone of voice

"And why are you still here? Why don't you leave me alone?" Aurora demanded coldly.

She turned her emotions off for 500 years, so faking it wouldn't be a problem. Katherine's voice was tight and taut as the old Katherine made a onetime only command performance pointing out in a voice was as cold as death itself saying, "Remember little girl that I am hundreds of years older than you, so you would do well to drop the attitude…"

"Elena should have taught you respect for you elders… at least!" Katherine spat. "I am the founder of your bloodline in more ways than one child"

Aurora may be family but she was beginning to piss Katherine off as she declared in a stentorian tone of voice, "Aurora… I'm not the touchy feely kind of vampire… I tell you to do something you do it"

In a matter of fact tone of voice, Katherine told Aurora "Imagine my surprise to find out that the young vampire is in fact Aurora Salvatore… none other than the daughter of my sire Damon Salvatore."

"Well now that you know it's me, you can leave me alone. No matter what you say, I'm not going back to Mystic Falls. I don't care what kind of guilt trip you use on me; I'm not going back to them." Aurora stated firmly. She was 100% sure of her decision.

Regaining her composure Katherine stated, "Why would I send you back there?"

Crossing her arms over her chest Katherine told her "What sense does that make… I'm always looking for someone to hang out with."

"You can be my sidekick of sorts." Katherine suggested in a singsong tone, her brown eyes glinting.

Aurora voice shot up an octave as she asked with raised eyebrows, "You want me to hang around… with you?" a look that Katherine noted made her look like Damon.

"Is that a no?" Katherine asked teasingly.

"No, I'm just wondering why?" Aurora asked in a matter of fact tone.

"You little girl are making a spectacle or yourself… you are killing too much and being far too obvious about it." Katherine stated in honeyed tone. Leveling her gaze on the young Salvatore she told her, "If you're not careful you're going to make a lot of enemies that you don't need or want." Katherine explained in a penetrating tone

Aurora was about to say something when Katherine cut her off telling her in a slightly shrill tone, "We don't need the humans catching on to us and killing us all… you'd do well to stay with me."

Narrowing her gaze on Aurora, with a smirk playing on the corner of her mouth she stated in a curt tone, "If you behave, I won't ship you back to Mystic Falls... well not yet at any rate…"

Scowling Aurora declared in a thick & taut tone, "Fine, I'll hang out with you!," She decided, knowing that it was really her only option.

"First thing you need to know about hanging out with me… you have to clean up after yourself. Pointing to the women's room Katherine ordered her, "You're going to go dispose of the body you left in the bathroom."

"Why should I do that?" Aurora asked sniffling a bit at having to clean up after herself.

"Do you want to be found out?" Katherine growled.

"I guess not." Aurora gave in, knowing she had to listen to the ancient vampire.

"Good, once you are done, there is a club just down the street. It's all lit up, you won't be able to miss it. Meet me there. That place is more my style, even the possible prey are better looking and less creepy." Katherine told her before standing up and readjusting her outfit.

"Fine, I'll meet you there." Aurora groaned.

Walking to the woman's room Aurora muttered softly, "It's not like I wanted to be a vampire to begin with… Dad should have kept his promise; I'll make him sorry he didn't"

What Aurora didn't know is Katherine heard every word as she turned walking out of the grungy bar as fast as her three-inch black ankle boots could take her. Katherine called to Aurora over her shoulder, "Or don't, but either way; remember it's your funeral if you don't."

Knowing it would take Aurora a couple minutes to figure out how to deal with the body. Where to stuff it and such, Katherine pulled out her cell phone and dialed a very familiar number. She got far enough away that Aurora wouldn't be able to pick up on her call as the phone rang.

"Hello?" Damon answered in a rough tone.

Katherine's voice was smoky & husky with a raspy quality to its tenor as she said to Damon "Well hello there, long time no talk."

"Katherine, I have bigger things on my mind than you. What do you want? Just get to the point." Damon ordered in a flat tone.

"Someone's a bit cranky… not getting any?" She asked smirking. She loved pressing Damon's buttons; it always gave her a lot of satisfaction.

"Look I have much more important things to worry about right now besides listening to you talk." Damon told her trying to get her to the point. Katherine never called for no good reason; there was always some purpose behind the calls.

Taking a breath she asked, "Do the issues you're having have something to do with a seventeen year old brunette who looks like your wife, albeit with your eyes?" Katherine asked describing Aurora to a T.

"What do you know about Aurora?" Damon demanded, his defenses rising.

"What don't I know?" Katherine declared

After a pause Katherine stated, "How about she has killed four people since she ran away… she's currently hiding her most recent body because I told her to... how about the fact that she's here right now."

Katherine listened for his response.

"She's wherever you are?" Damon asked.

"Yep." Katherine replied.

"Something Aurora said has me worried!" Katherine stated in a taut tone of voice

"What's that?" Damon asked in a matter of fact tone

"She said she never wanted it… then she said she would make you pay for breaking your promise."

"Aurora wanted to have a family and grow old… the accident on the bridge changed all that… Kat I didn't get to her until after… Elena didn't want to let go, so I gave her my blood"

"Losing a child is hard on a mother Damon… I should know!" Katherine replied in a brittle tone.

Katherine asked, "The broken promise!"

"I sort of promised her I would kill the person that ran her off the bridge… and didn't" Damon stated in a monotone voice.

"So you betrayed your daughter twice over once when you made her… the second time you when made a promise you could not or would not keep… no-wonder she ran away"

"Send her back to me right now Katherine... Or tell me where you are and I'll come get her." Damon commanded.

"Calm down Damon I can't do that." Remembering her own past Katherine reminded him "You know as well as I do that she has to get past this issue on her own… I'm just guiding her a little bit."

Pausing to choose her words carefully Katherine stated, "You can't force her to go home… Something has to happen to make her want to flip the switch back on… You have to let her do this on her own," "I'll send her home to you when she's ready." Katherine promised.

"Why should I trust you though?" Damon demanded angrily.

"I know what she means to you Damon. I'm not going to take her from you. I still owe you." She told him.

"Now what do you owe me for? You already helped me save her life once before." Damon reminded her.

"I know that… However, I never apologized for being with your dad and Stefan at the same time I was with you. I figure I owe you for that." She told him.

"Nah, I just think Katherine Pierce has found that she too has a heart." Damon told her with a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.

"No I don't, I just don't like owing people anything… I want to be free to do whatever I want." Katherine scoffed.

"You don't owe me anything. You've already saved Aurora's life once before. You don't need to babysit her now." Damon reminded her.

"I'm not babysitting her… I am simply letting her do her own thing but at the same time make sure she isn't bringing attention to herself as a vampire." Katherine corrected him.

"Whatever you say Kat… You and I both know that someone beneath the facade of bitchiness, you have a bit of a heart. You don't have to admit it…"

"I have to go" Damon stated "I need to call my wife and tell her that I know where our daughter is." He said hanging up feeling relieved now that he knew Aurora was more or less safe.

Elena was sitting up with only the light of the television in the room. Her cell phone sat beside her and her eyes were slowly drooping shut. She wouldn't let herself fall asleep, she wouldn't let her guard down until she knew it was safe. She couldn't have Aurora coming here and stalking the people she loved. Elena knew deep inside that it was safe because she wouldn't be able to get in, she hadn't been invited yet. When her phone started chiming, it scared her a bit. She wasn't expecting to hear it ring and she quickly picked it up, seeing their home number flashing.

"Damon?" She asked when she pressed, "talk."

"Yeah it's me. I found Aurora." He told her.

"Really? Where is she?" Elena asked desperately.

"Atlanta. Katherine found her." Damon told her.

Elena voice was quavering as she asked "What, Katherine has our daughter… how is that good news?"

"It's good news because until Aurora is ready to come home, at least she'll have Katherine watching her back. She won't let her get too crazy." Damon assured her.

Elena's voice was wobbly as she stated, "No Damon… this is Katherine we're talking about. Her voice rose an octave as she said, "She's done some pretty awful things." She reminded him.

"I know that. But she's already saved her once; I don't think she'll do anything to Aurora." Damon tried to comfort her.

"I want her home. I want her home now." Elena told him.

"I can't do that. She won't come and if she does come with force she won't improve. Her emotions are off Elena. She needs to do this on her own." Damon told her.

"Forgive me if I disagree with what you think is right for our daughter. I'd rather have her hate me forever than live like Katherine does." Elena told him as her anger slowly built into rage.

"Oh so now you're okay with Aiden never being able to live with us again Elena? Because that's what's going to happen if we force her home right now." Damon fought back.

"You know what I've had enough, I'm going to bed." She told him as Elena's voice became brittle she was on the verge of tears.

"You know it's never going to get better unless we talk." He alerted her.

"Maybe I don't want it to get better right now. All I want is my daughter." Elena screamed before disconnecting the call.

Knowing he would be calling back in a second, she put the phone on silent and shut off the TV. She decided that since the danger was in Atlanta, she would try to get some sleep.

* * *

_Back at Katherine's club_

"Wow this club is amazing... much more my style." Aurora enthused as the bartender passed her yet another drink.

"Just don't make your feeding obvious or else we'll have a problem… this is my place, it has the kind of people I like feeding on." Looking at her right in the eye Katherine told her, "You do know Aurora that you can feed on someone more than once… You don't need to kill them right off the bat."

"But it's more fun my way." Aurora pointed out.

"Is it? I think not." Katherine mused as she drank her glass of wine.

"Kat, baby. There you are." A guy with model good looks stated in a shrill voice as he walked over. His walk was more of a strut Aurora noted.

"Dustin there you are." Katherine purred in a smoky sensual in the voice that made every man who crossed her path fall at her feet.

"Where did you run off to earlier baby? I looked for you everywhere?" He asked possessively.

"I had to go pick up my friend here. Dustin this is Aurora." She said introducing the two.

"You didn't tell me where you were going. I got worried baby." He told her. Katherine rolled her eyes, hating how possessive he could be. But he was good in a pinch, he was hot, he was good in bed and his blood tasted fantastic.

"You're going to stop whining right now... You do not control me... Then you are going to leave and meet me at my apartment, naked in my bed." Katherine compelled him.

"Wow you so got to teach me how to do that." Aurora exclaimed excitedly.

"Nope, I can't do that. That's your dad's job." Katherine told her as she watched Dustin walk away.

"Why not... I'm not going back to Mystic Falls as it is. I don't need any of them." Aurora demanded.

"I'm not teaching you anything… I am not your dad and I am sure as hell not your mom." Katherine spat.

With a placed stare, Katherine told Aurora, "If you wanted to learn the awesome little vampire tricks you should have stayed with your parents… not my job" Raising her brow Katherine stated, "With me you can do whatever you want to within reason without too much consequence, but I also don't have the patience your parents have. Don't piss me off Aurora Salvatore."

Leaning into Aurora Katherine told her, her in a voice that was cold & icy, "Just because I know your dad doesn't mean I won't kill you."

"I'll stay and live your way." Aurora decided, not afraid of the older vampire.

"Aurora" Said Katherine "You may think you're the queen bitch… but I'm the one wearing the crown… remember that…"

Katherine's statement made a slight shiver run up Aurora's spine.

In a strangled voice the elder Vampire said " Just don't ask me to be your shoulder to cry on. That's not what I do." She told her as they stood up and left the bar.

"So where are we going?" Aurora asked.

"Tonight you are going to sleep on the couch at my apartment, I have unfinished business to get to with Dustin." Katherine muttered.

"You feed on Dustin don't you?" Aurora asked quizzically.

"Yes I do. He's perfect for me… He looks good on my arm when I need a date, and he tastes good and he's really good in bed." Katherine told her.

"I need to find someone like that for me." Aurora mused.

"You need to get control of yourself first." Katherine told her disinterestedly as she continued to walk.

"Why don't we just steal a car?" Aurora asked not wanting to walk anymore.

"I have a car; I just didn't drive it tonight. I kinda like walking once in a while lets me show what I've got. It gives the male species more time to look and it gives me more time to pick my next plaything. They're only fun for so long." Katherine explained.

"I see." Aurora murmured as they came to a high-rise building.

* * *

The next day Elena drove her dad to work, then Aiden. When she got to the Grill she kept a silent vigil at the bar all day watching Aiden work. Every once in a while the teenage boy would shoot his mom an annoyed glance. He was finding it hard to flirt with all the girls who came in. Elena smiled and shook her head at her sons antics, it was just like Aiden to somehow bring sunshine to a predominantly cloudy current existence.

"What are you doing here Elena?" Damon asked when he walked into the restaurant a few minutes later, shocked to find his wife sitting in her usual spot.

"I'm waiting for Aiden to get off work." She answered stirring her drink.

"What are you drinking?" He asked.

"Martini. I figured I was entitled to booze today since everything in my life is falling apart." Elena told him.

"You're always entitled to booze. But you know since we know where Aurora is, you don't have to sit here and babysit him." Damon told her.

"Well I just want to make sure he's safe. I refuse to put another child in danger." Elena told him in a taut tone.

"You know you can also come home. Aiden can stay where he is until we get Aurora back and under control, but you don't need to stay at your parents' house.

Sipping a whiskey Damon stated, "We both know you'll be happier at home." He suggested to her in a soft-spoken tone, knowing they needed to get their relationship back on track.

"I'm just fine where I am right now." Elena told him, making it clear that she wasn't ready to be around him.

"Look we were fighting because of Aurora. Because we couldn't agree on how to handle the situation. I don't think either of us were right, but the situation is out of our hands right now. We can't let everything we've worked so hard for fade away." He told her.

"Damon now is not the time for this." Elena sighed drinking the rest of her drink as quickly as she could.

"Hi dad…" Aiden greeted as he came over to stand beside his parents.

"Hey." Damon greeted him back.

"So are you guys speaking yet?" Aiden asked hopefully.

"I'm trying to but your mom isn't at that stage yet." Damon admitted.

"Oh great, blame the entire fucking thing on me. I knew there was a reason I couldn't be around you right now." Elena shouted getting off of her stool, almost tipping it in the process and storming out of the restaurant.

"Well that was one way to get her out of here, but I'm guessing it was a bad idea. As happy as I am that she's not hovering, I don't think that was the thing to say." Aiden murmured in a soft tone.

"Clearly not, but it's true... I'm not talking about my marital issues with you though kid. Get to work." Damon told him abruptly.

"Yes sir." Aiden saluted him.

Elena came back inside a few minutes later and stood expectantly by Damon's chair.

"I'm here babysitting. You leave." She told him pointing to the door.

"He's a seventeen year old boy. He doesn't need babysitting." Damon told her as he sipped his drink.

"Will you just please leave?" She pleaded.

"Nope, I'm happy right here. Now if you opt to stay you know you may have to actually talk to me. If you leave I'll have to bring Aiden back to your parents' house after." Damon told her.

"Fine, you can bring him home. I'm leaving." She said walking out of the restaurant without a backward glance.

"Nice one dad." Aiden stated as he clapped his hands.

"What are you talking about?" Damon asked.

"You ran mom out of here, now I can flirt. I never thought in a million years the fighting would benefit me." Aiden remarked smugly.

"Well you're the only one." Damon said swallowing another gulp of expensive bourbon.

"Look Aurora will come back, and then everything will go back to normal. You and mom will make up which of course I refuse to be home for. It's always quite loud. Everything will be normal again." Aiden spoke hopefully.

"I know… however, you better get to work kid. You have to work to get paid." He told him in a matter of fact tone.

"I know. I'll talk to you later." Aiden said walking to deal with a table.

* * *

_In Katherine's Apartment_

"So what do free vampires do during the day Katherine?" Aurora asked mildly excited.

"I don't know about other vampires, but I am staying here. I might do some shopping later." Katherine decided as she tied a robe around her body she walked out of bedroom two steps behind her was a bare-chested Dustin.

"Will I see you again tonight babe?" He asked kissing her neck.

"We will see Dustin. You can leave now. I'm done with you." She said in a husky tone pointing to the door.

"Alright!" He sighed, already used to Katherine's mood swings by now.

"So what are we doing?" Aurora asked expectantly.

"I thought I'd hit the shops. It seems as good a day as any to get a new wardrobe. Besides, it's a good test for you to see if you can control your blood-lust." Katherine told her, having a bit of a soft spot for Damon's little girl.

"Why would I want to control my blood-lust?" Aurora demanded.

"If you can't control it you can't ever be in public. You can keep killing but eventually you will have nothing and no one. Even a vampire can't live without anyone for an entire lifetime or more." Katherine explained.

"I see. Right now I can't see anything wrong with a lifetime of solitude." Aurora shrugged.

"You don't right now but eventually you will." Shaking her head in disbelief Katherine stated, "An eternity is a long time to be alone, especially when you have people out there who love you."

Katherine told her before turning around and walking back into her bedroom to get ready for the day.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the wait, I moved home and broke my wrist so typing has been exceedingly difficult. Thank you to Taliesin the eternal bard for reading this for me. Hope you enjoy, things start improving now and hopefully I can get past the depression.

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"We've been here all damn day, can't we go out? Or better yet can you get me a nifty little daylight-ring so I can go out?" Aurora demanded in a strident tone as she rolling her eyes. She absolutely hated being cooped up inside all day, and it was beginning to drive her insane.

"I am not giving you a daylight ring. That's for your dad to do…" Katherine's voice was shrill as she snapped at her house guest.

"I am not here to make you into a good vampire… I'm here to make sure you don't kill too many people but at the same time let you live your life." Katherine told Aurora in a matter-of-fact tone.

"If you really want to go outside…, then go… I don't really give a flying fuck, but if you incinerate in the sun it's really not my problem." Katherine told her while picking at her new French manicure.

"Sure you do, if you didn't care you wouldn't have been helping me that past couple days." Aurora spoke with a smirk that reminded Katherine of Damon.

Lowering her voice to the point where it was barely audible Katherine stated, "No I care about your dad not you… The only reason I'm only helping you is to help your dad, I will always care about him and if he forgives me for everything I did to him in the past so much the better."

Putting her index finger right in Aurora's face Katherine told her, "But you will never tell that to him because I don't want him to know that I feel that way." Confessing what she actually felt Katherine thought _Why am I telling her this_." She didn't love Damon and never had, but after so many years she regretted everything she did to him.

"You… care about my dad?" Aurora's brow slowly rose to a high arch as she muttered, "The Katherine I've heard about over the years is a selfish bitch… Everything she does is for herself, not for others."

Rounding on Aurora the elder Vampire stated, "I have been that Katherine and I still am. But I owe your dad for so many things I've done to him and now I'm repaying him." Sipping some brandy laced with blood Katherine told her, "I just want to live the rest of my eternity in peace… If getting you your humanity back is what's going to do it then fine." Katherine shrugged, not sure why she was admitting these things to the young girl.

"Uh huh… Well the problem with that plan is that I am not turning my humanity back on. So there is no point in even trying. I'm happy like this, it's fun not feeling remorse for anything that I do." Aurora told her with a orotund tone and wide smirk on her face.

"The issue with that statement is this; you're not happy like this because you have no emotions. You can't be happy when you're switched off because you don't feel anything." Katherine reminded her in a silvery tone.

"Well I feel happy; it feels nice feeling so numb. If I was switched on I would have felt so much guilt for what I've done, but since I'm not I don't have to worry about anything. It feels incredible." Aurora stated in a grating voice a she grinned.

"I'm sure it does, but you're not staying like that... Soon enough you will do something that truly horrifies you even in the state you're in now and you will turn it back on." Katherine stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Then you will have to wait as all the emotions rush through you bombarding you at hyper speed… You'll hate yourself; you might even try to kill yourself." Katherine told her in a flat dead voice that showed no emotion

You'll hate yourself for what you said to your family and what you did to all those innocent people. It's inevitable little girl. There's nothing you can do to stop it." Katherine warned her in a honeyed tone.

"We'll see about that." Aurora muttered, not liking the way that Katherine was talking to her.

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"So what's going on with you and Damon?" Caroline asked Elena the next day as they were walking through the mall. Caroline had insisted that Elena come out with her. She told her that they needed a girl's day and whatever was going on with Aurora would still be there after her reprieve from her life. Caroline was right, Elena needed to get out.

"Absolutely nothing right now…" Elena muttered pointedly not wanting to think about her husband. There was absolutely nothing she liked about him right now.

"It's not possible to have nothing going on with your husband. You're married to him there will always be something going on between the two of you. It's inevitable, you'll be getting back together once Aurora is home safe." Caroline told her in a singsong voice.

Elena's body slumped forward as told her "I just want her home safe and maybe when she is I'll be able to work on my marriage… But until that moment I can't focus on anything other than protecting my family."

"I know but everything will work out. You should just talk to him." Caroline suggested soft comforting voice.

"I don't want to talk to him. Every time we talk we just end up fighting. I can't fight with him right now." Elena told her.

"I know, but just don't let this ruin your marriage. It is most definitely still salvageable. At least this time you didn't kick him out of the house." Caroline noted.

"No this time I left." Elena reminded her.

"To take care of your family… You didn't want Aurora to come back to town and try to kill Aiden or your parents." Caroline told her pointedly.

"I will focus on my marriage when my daughter is safe." Elena told her putting an end to the conversation.

"Alright I get the idea. You don't want to talk about it anymore and I don't blame you. If my life was falling apart I wouldn't want to talk about it either." Caroline sympathized.

"Thank you." Elena answered relieved.

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"Dad, what are you going to do about mom?" Aiden asked walking into the house that afternoon.

"What the hell are you doing here; you're supposed to be in school." Damon asked from the living room in a stentorian tone of voice.

"I skipped the afternoon so I could come here. Mom doesn't want me going anywhere alone so I had to take the first opportunity I could find that she wouldn't know about." Aiden admitted.

"Your mom doesn't want you going anywhere alone so don't you think maybe you should listen to her?" Damon reminded him in a taut tone of voice.

"I'm perfectly safe with you dad. No one can get to me when I'm with you. I'm probably safer with you than anyone else." Aiden reminded him in a silvery tone.

"Yes but you weren't when you left school and came here." Damon told him in a thin tone.

"I know… Just answer my questions and then I'll go back to school like a good little boy." Aiden demanded nervously.

"Fine, ask away." Damon grumbled telling him with a wave of his hand. He relaxed back into his chair and took a sip of his glass of bourbon. He was really acting like everything that was going on wasn't affecting him in the slightest, although Aiden knew that it was just an act.

"OK, what are you going to do about mom?" Aiden asked again.

"What do you mean? She has made it very clear that until Aurora comes home there is nothing for us." Damon told him.

"But you can't really take that, you're Damon Salvatore, make her talk to you. Make her see your point. She'll come home if you try." Aiden told his dad.

"You think that I haven't been trying? I tried to talk to her at the Grill but she wouldn't listen. I tried to talk to her on the phone the other night I have been trying, so now I'm just going to give her what she wants and leave her alone until Aurora comes home." Damon told him.

"What if she doesn't come home?" Aiden asked in a thick tone of voice. He didn't want think it alone speak it but he had ask.

"She will. Katherine will get sick of her eventually. Or something will happen that absolutely devastates Aurora, and then she'll come home." Damon told him.

"What do you mean something will happen that absolutely devastates Aurora?" Aiden asked fearfully.

"Even vampires like Aurora have standards Aiden… They never know about them because they think they're above grief, guilt and pain… But sometimes they do something that sends them over the edge of despair and the switch flips back on... So I think Aurora is going to do something that flips her switch for her." Damon told her.

"And then she'll come home?" Aiden asked.

"Yes, she'll come home." Damon promised.

"And she won't be a danger to me anymore? I never thought I'd admit this but I miss her." Aiden confessed.

"I know you do and once her switch is flipped she won't be as dangerous. Just remember that she's still a vampire and will always be somewhat dangerous to you." Damon told him.

"When she's home you'll work on your marriage?" Aiden asked.

"Yes. Once Aurora is safe and your mom comes home I'll work on it." Damon promised.

"Good. I guess I'll go back to school now so mom doesn't find out." Aiden decided.

"Good plan because somehow if your mom does find out it will end up being all my fault." Damon muttered dryly.

"Alright, I'll see you later dad." Aiden said grabbing his car keys and walking away.

"Bye brat." Damon called after him before refilling his glass of bourbon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the sun finally went down that night Aurora practically leaped from the couch.

"We can finally go out!" Aurora enthused.

"Yes we can. Go get ready; you're not going out with me dressed like that." Katherine ordered.

Aurora didn't respond, just rolled her eyes and walked into the bedroom where she raided Katherine's closet. She was almost the same size as Katherine so most of her clothes fit her decently. Not great, but decent, Katherine just had a bit more of a womanly shape, bigger hips and bigger breasts. Aurora emerged a few minutes later with her makeup done dark, and a short, tight red dress on with black suede ankle boots.

"You'll pass, though I wish you'd stop wearing my clothes." Katherine muttered as she thought to herself, _Great I'm a soccer mom._

"Well you wouldn't go out and get me new stuff." Aurora muttered as she walked to the door with a slight sway to her hips. Katherine rolled her eyes but followed after her, more and more everyday she was wishing the young vampire would just re-flip her switch and go back home. Katherine missed her independence and she missed her life. She couldn't even bring her boy-toy over as often with the risk of scarring Damon's kid for life. Not that she should have to worry about that since she didn't care all that much.

"Get in the car." Katherine ordered as Aurora did exactly as she said. Aurora chose to pick her own battles with the ancient vampire. This was not one that was worth fighting about.

"Yes Katherine." Aurora muttered stepping into the sports car and shutting the door.

The duo drove to the same bar that they went to Aurora's first night. They immediately sidled up to the bar and sat down.

"What can I get for you?" The bartender asked having been freshly compelled a couple nights ago to always give Aurora whatever she wanted to drink.

"Vodka and cranberry..." Aurora shot in with a seductive smirk on her face.

"I'll have the same." Katherine muttered shooting a glare at the teenager. If she wasn't careful she was going to turn into Katherine and the thought was driving her insane. There was only one Katherine Pierce; it was more than time that Aurora Salvatore turned her emotions back on. The young girl was trying to steal her life and it was driving her insane. The bartender handed their drinks to them and they both sipped them slowly, savouring the taste of the cranberry.

"This is so good; I'm never going to stop drinking them. I'll be like my dad with his bourbon." Aurora sighed.

"Your dad does love his bourbon." Katherine agreed.

"He's practically an alcoholic. I would be too if I had to live with my mom." Aurora stated in a shrill voice as she laughed. Katherine rolled her eyes, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Aurora would regret every single word she spoke about her mom when her emotions were back on. She did not relish seeing the young girl break down over everything she said or did. That was going to be her parent's job hopefully.

"You know you are going to regret everything you say someday right?" Katherine asked in silvery tone.

"No I'm not. I'm never flipping that damn switch again. I feel amazing like this. Nothing or no one can hurt me when I'm like this." Aurora said gleefully in a matter of fact tone.

"But it gets lonely eventually... You'll flip it because you have a family that loves you back in Mystic Falls." Sipping her drink she told Aurora, "You'll go back there because deep down under all that sarcasm and general bitchiness, you still love them too." Katherine told her with a bored tone in her voice. She was sick of having this exact same conversation with the girl day in and day out. It would be better for both of them if she would just give in and go back to who she's supposed to be.

"I'm hungry." Aurora declared after sitting there silently for a few minutes. She hated it whenever Katherine attempted to preach to her.

"If you were going to preach to someone you usually had something other than boredom in the tone of your voice. You were supposed to act passionate or caring or anything else if you were trying to convince someone of something." Aurora deadpanned.

Katherine definitely wasn't doing that, it just meant to Aurora that she didn't really care which was more than fine by Aurora.

"Then find someone and eat him." Katherine told her rolling her eyes again. Katherine was finding that she was doing that a lot lately in response to something Aurora had said.

"There's no one in here that appeals to me. They're all ugly perverts. I'm looking for something a little more innocent tonight." Aurora noted as she glanced around the high-class bar.

"You're not going to find innocent in a bar." Katherine told her sarcastically.

"I know that. I was thinking I'd go for a walk." Aurora decided with a smirk on her face. Katherine was really beginning to hate that smirk. Damon looked hot when he had it on his face, but Aurora just looked evil.

"That is not a good idea. You are not nearly in control enough to head out by yourself." Katherine told her, fighting with herself to just let her go. But she knew if she did she'd be letting Damon down.

"So you keep telling me." Aurora sighed shaking her head.

"You'd do well to listen to me Aurora. I don't give second chances and if you ruin what I have going here by going on a killing spree outside; I will kill you." Katherine warned her, hoping that her threat didn't feel as empty as it sounded to herself. She couldn't kill Aurora because that would hurt Damon. Her desire to make sure that man was happy was bewildering her. Maybe Damon was right, maybe she did have a heart. The thought was sickening.

"I don't want to be here anymore. I saw a guy walk out a few minutes ago. He didn't look like he belonged here. Can I go eat him and come straight back?" Aurora asked deciding that asking for permission was the best way to go. She didn't actually want to die, she liked her life the way it was right now. It was refreshing and fun killing people without remorse.

"Fine, I'm giving you a few minutes before I track you down and kill you." Katherine told her in that bored tone she had perfected.

"You would really kill Damon's daughter?" She asked with her eyes wide and a fake look or terror on her face.

"You don't know me as well as you think you do girl. You see I wouldn't ever kill your brother because he is a mini Damon all the way through, but you have most of your mom's traits except for your eyes. I would have no problem killing you." She told her coldly in a flat dead voice.

"Fine, I'll be back." Aurora muttered as she slid off her stool and walked to the door with that same seductive sway to her hips she had before. Katherine shook her head and ordered a refill of her drink before patiently waiting for Aurora's return.

Aurora walked down the street happier than she was before. She was free temporarily from the annoying Katherine Pierce. She was so different from the one that her dad had told her about. The way he described her all those years ago was a bitch who cared about no one but herself. This Katherine seemed to care about more than just herself. Aurora turned and walked down a dark alley, she knew on her left side was the club she was just in and on the right side was a convenience store. This would be a good place to find an innocent to snack on. She stopped in her tracks when she caught a whiff of the most fantastic odour she had ever smelled. The blood was so perfect, so rich and sweet. It smelled like nothing she had ever smelt before. She heard the voices before she saw the woman, she stepped out the back door of the club and leaned against the wall talking on her cell phone. She was fighting with someone, judging by the voice on the other end it was either an ex-boyfriend or ex-husband or something like that. Aurora took another sniff of the magnificent scent and allowed her vampire side to overtake her. She kept to the shadows to make sure the woman couldn't see her, but she probably wouldn't have looked anyway. She was too busy arguing with the man on the phone. With a lunge, Aurora had her hand around the woman's throat you tried to scream but couldn't.

"Shut up." Aurora commanded the woman before viciously tearing into her neck. The blood was so perfect as he coated her throat as she took gulp after gulp. The woman's struggles became weaker and weaker as her eyes slowly drifted shut. Aurora held the woman up as she drained every last drop of blood from her body. The blood was so perfect that she nearly wanted to tear into every other vein of her body just to ensure that she got it all. She kept drinking until she heard a soft whimper from beside her. Aurora pulled away from the dead woman to stare into the terrified eyes of a three year old girl.

"Mommy..." The little girl asked stepping away from the slightly open doorway to walk to her mother. She picked up her-moms hand and held it. "Mommy okay?"

"M-Mommy okay?" She asked with a wobbly voice as her watery eyes formed tracks of tears streaming down her tiny cheeks.

Looking at Aurora the little girl asked, "Are you take care of me now?" Those words echoed in Aurora's ears as she finally hit rock bottom the moment Katherine warned her about it her like a ton of bricks. Aurora staggered back and collapsed against the wall, her eyes wide she was terrified the one thought on her mind was_ what have I done… What have I become?_

"Oh-my-God." Aurora murmured as she consciously felt the switch being flipped firmly into the upright position and emotions start flooding her body. Painful sobs started coming from Aurora as she placed her head between her knees and cried. She cried for the little girl whose mother was not going to be able to watch her grow up. She cried for everything she said to her own mother. She cried for everyone else she's killed or mistreated in the past few days. The agonizing sobs tore through her as she screamed hoping that someone would come and end this misery for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katherine heard the screams coming from the alley and thought, _not good!_ She left hers and Aurora's drinks unfinished on the counter, moving in a blur of motion of the out the door and around the club and down the alley where she saw Aurora huddled against the wall screaming in agony.

"What the hell happened?" Katherine demanded crouching down to force Aurora to look at her.

"The little girl…" Aurora voice was wobbly as she sobbed and Katherine finally understood what happened.

"Get in the car right now Aurora." Katherine ordered pulling the young girl to her feet she wanted to be mad at Aurora but an odd thing happened she found herself wanting to comfort her instead. She nodded her head, fixating her water blue eyes on Katherine's chocolate brown ones which matched Elena's perfectly. Once Aurora was gone, Katherine dialled 911 on her cell phone and waited for the authorities to show up. Whenever a child was orphaned you had to do it right. A couple minutes later the police showed up with an ambulance.

"You're the one who called us to report a body?" A detective asked dryly.

"Yes and before you ask I don't know anything that went on here. All I know is that you had to be called to deal with the child." Katherine told them before they could question her further.

"Did you see anything at all?" The cop asked.

"No I did not… I already told you that…" Crossing her arms over her chest Katherine told him, " I was walking down here to get some fresh air after some pervert groped me in the bar… Then I found the little girl and her mother. That's all I know and now I'm leaving." Katherine stated as she began to walk away.

"Ma'am wait… if we need to get a hold of you…" The cop called.

"You will believe my story and not question me anymore… You will find a good home for that child."

The before she left Katherine knelt down by the little girl and looked her right in the eyes as Katherine's pupils dilated she told the girl in a soft voice, "If the people you're with mistreat you at all you call me… understand!" And she told the young girl her cell phone number asking her to repeat to make sure the compulsion stuck.

_What's happening to me_ _Katherine Pierce would never… _was the one thought racing through Katherine's mind. As if on cue the voice Katherine's conscience said, _Katerina__ Petrova would…_

Turning to the police officer Katherine compelled the man to forget her exchange between the little girl and herself before walking away. When she got to the car Aurora was crunched over in the seat still sobbing.

"What am I going to do? The child no longer has a mother because of me." Aurora sobbed.

"It's all taken care of Aurora... Come on let's get you home." Katherine told her with as soft and sincere voice.

Fear started building in her mind like a tsunami "What if my family doesn't forgive me? I was so cruel to them." Aurora pleaded with a voice thick with regret and remorse, the look of utter devastation never leaving her face.

"I'm sure they will." Katherine said trying to placate the girl in soften the blow the same time.

"My mom won't... Why should she? I hurt her; I ruined hers and my dad's marriage. I threatened to kill my brother. My mom will never forgive me." Aurora wailed.

"She will. Your mom is a very forgiving woman. If she wasn't, she wouldn't still be married to your dad." Katherine told her in a soft tone.

"I've ruined everything. I was filled with so much hate and now all I feel is grief and remorse. I hate myself. I should just die right now, I don't deserve to live." Aurora cried in a wobbly voice feeling sorry for herself she wanted to believe elder vampire she really did but fear gripped her heart.

"You should just get some sleep. We'll be in Mystic Falls in a couple hours." Katherine told her finally. She recalled her own experience when she flipped the switch back on she knew how difficult it always was for people just flipping it back on, but it was still annoying. Aurora nodded her head and closed her eyes though the tears or the sobs never ceased. As Aurora drifted off to sleep Katherine heard her say "Sorry Katherine"

They arrived in Mystic Falls about 45 minutes before sunrise. Katherine parked the car outside the house as Aurora stared at it uncertainly. Katherine motioned for her to go up there. All the lights in the house were off so she knew that Damon must be sleeping.

Aurora took a deep breath and opened the car door taking a tentative step up the drive to the front door, certain that her dad would have heard the noise. Katherine nodded her head in what she hoped was an encouraging manner as Aurora walked up the front walk. Not sure what the etiquette was after acting how she did, she knocked on the door. Katherine got out of the car and walked over to stand by Aurora, feeling guilty for making her do it by herself. Aurora looked up at her with a relieved expression on her face. All Aurora could picture was her dad opening the door and sending her away for ruining his life. It was a deep, dark fear that she couldn't extinguish. Aurora saw the entrance way light flip on and took a deep breath as the front door swung open.

"I brought you something." Katherine spoke first.

"Daddy..." Aurora stated in a weak voice, before the tears that had just finally stopped started falling again as she threw her arms around her dad, hugging him tightly. Damon hugged her back for a moment and kissed the top of her head before pulling back slightly.

"Let's get inside. You too Katherine…" Damon said softly ushering them both into the house and shutting the door behind them.

Once inside Aurora leaned into Katherine and whispered "Thank You" in her ear knowing full well her father heard every word of it.

Damon quirked his eyebrow, at Katherine who just shoot a not important right now look at him.

As Katherine and Aurora walked into the living room Katherine told her with a wink, "We Petrova women have to stick together!"

Aurora looked at Katherine razing her brow quizzically asking, "Petrova women?"

Katherine gave Damon a sideways glance telling him in a tight tone of voice, "Shame on you for not teaching your children there family history… Aurora sit with me and I will tell you all about Katerina Petrova while we wait for your mom and Aiden!"

Halfway through her story Aurora stopped Katherine taking her father's bourbon she quickly gulped down stating in a penetrating voice as she looked at Katherine, "So… You're my great, great grandmother?"

Katherine was about to ask for some of the Damon's Bourbon when she saw hand appear with a glass half-full of Bourbon this was not a discussion Katherine anticipated having as she said in a silvery tone, "Something like that." As she drank down the Bourbon stating, "Hit me again!"


End file.
